Arcanum: Of Steamworks & Magick Obscura | Troika Games Retrospective 1/3

00:00:00.000broken masterpiece an oxymoron I know

00:00:04.410but I can think of no better way to

00:00:06.450describe the works of the now-defunct

00:00:08.130game developer troika true strokes of

00:00:11.610genius aren't conjured from intellectual

00:00:13.590property or licenses and they aren't

00:00:15.839built by amorphous companies or brands

00:00:17.880these are works of passions by

00:00:20.160individual people designers artists

00:00:23.189coders composers and writers who have an

00:00:26.250inspired concept and the dedication and

00:00:28.740willpower to turn that into a reality if

00:00:31.740you trace the rise and fall of a given

00:00:33.510game franchise or genre you will likely

00:00:35.760notice certain names in the industry

00:00:37.230follow your favorite games if you

00:00:39.629enjoyed immersive first-person Sims like

00:00:42.030Ultima Underworld System Shock and later

00:00:44.460Deus Ex

00:00:45.300you'll find that Warren Spector pops up

00:00:47.460in the credits of each of these if you

00:00:49.410enjoyed altschool RPG writing with deep

00:00:51.719world-building and memorable characters

00:00:53.550you'd be remissed not to notice Chris

00:00:55.530Avalon's involvement in role-playing

00:00:57.030games like fallout Iceland ale

00:00:59.100Planescape torment and Neverwinter

00:01:01.079Nights even as developers come and go

00:01:03.449change and reform talented individuals

00:01:06.450bring the inspiration to their projects

00:01:08.400and development studios not the other

00:01:10.229way around the now legendary Black Isle

00:01:12.930Studios a division of interplay were the

00:01:15.540minds behind many of the greatest

00:01:17.100computer RPGs of all time Boulder's

00:01:19.830gates fallout Planescape torment and i

00:01:22.710Swindell all came to be under black

00:01:24.960house leadership and direction and their

00:01:27.540influence in the industry can be felt

00:01:29.340even today after what would become one

00:01:32.159of the company's biggest hits fallout

00:01:34.170was released designer encoder tim kaine

00:01:36.869and his team started on a sequel but

00:01:39.150shortly after the main story and much of

00:01:40.799fallout 2 was created things were on the

00:01:43.049rocks for the once thriving company the

00:01:45.360scene at interplay had changed the by

00:01:47.700gamers for gamers ethos was giving way

00:01:50.159to a more corporate and marketing driven

00:01:52.200development style and so several key

00:01:54.360staff left years before interplay folded

00:01:56.729its PC game development Studios Tim Cain

00:02:00.000Jason Anderson and Leonard Boyarsky were

00:02:02.850three key pillars behind the creation of

00:02:04.920Fallout art design and coding and so

00:02:07.710they named the new company troika Games

00:02:09.690which borrows the Russian word meaning

00:02:12.030three of any kind

00:02:13.260their debut project was a brand-new

00:02:15.540intellectual property but within a

00:02:17.370similar game system and genre as fallout

00:02:19.549securing a publisher in the adventure

00:02:21.780game giant Sierra this would lead to the

00:02:24.480creation of Arcanum of Steamworks and

00:02:27.000magic obscura

00:02:39.760as much love trikha games had for their

00:02:43.090post-apocalyptic masterpiece a few years

00:02:44.920ago they realized they needed to create

00:02:46.989something fresh and different from

00:02:48.549fallout or the standard fantasy tropes

00:02:50.769of Dungeons and Dragons

00:02:52.180the setting troika developed is a

00:02:53.860fascinating one and is likely the thing

00:02:56.230that interested me most when I first

00:02:58.030heard about it in the late nineties you

00:02:59.680could sum up the world of Arcanum as an

00:03:02.170answer to the question what would a

00:03:03.970traditional fantasy setting with elves

00:03:05.980dwarves dragons and magic be like if it

00:03:08.440went through an industrial revolution

00:03:09.840the result is marvelous Jules Verne Ian

00:03:13.510airships orcs with monocles and ogres

00:03:15.970with muskets and bowler hats this wasn't

00:03:18.549near pop-culture steampunk with gears

00:03:20.739glued onto top hats and corsets no this

00:03:23.889was a truly realized world with a

00:03:25.870history both known and unknown and a

00:03:28.510serious and logical conclusion what the

00:03:30.879magical elements of a fantasy setting

00:03:32.470would face in the shadow of coal trains

00:03:34.810and Zeppelin's your introduction to the

00:03:37.060story begins just like any great RPG

00:03:39.099should with an open-ended mystery you're

00:03:41.950shown to be on a great Zeppelin crews in

00:03:43.900the sky when some crude fighter planes

00:03:46.030shoot the vessel down in the wreckage

00:03:48.459you find but one survivor an Amish man

00:03:51.099who gives you a ring and in his dying

00:03:53.319breath tells you to find the boy this

00:03:56.109sparks a long and arduous journey with

00:03:58.329mysterious friends and enemies looking

00:04:00.459to intervene at every step

00:04:02.489interesting themes prevail throughout

00:04:04.389the game there's a sort of anxious

00:04:06.040tension felt throughout the world as

00:04:08.049amplified by the gorgeous string quartet

00:04:10.359soundtrack by Ben Hoch it's easily one

00:04:12.849of the most striking parts of the

00:04:14.019experience and a unique way to score a

00:04:16.269video game ranging from the dramatic

00:04:18.519main theme song to soothing sweeps of

00:04:20.680the violin to unsettling pricks at the

00:04:23.229strings and caves or dungeons it sounds

00:04:25.840like no other game out there and

00:04:27.460provides an immersive experience as

00:04:29.349these instruments existed and the era

00:04:31.479Arcanum is set in gentle strings or

00:04:34.479harsher plucks emanate from virtually

00:04:36.520every location there are only about

00:04:38.620three tracks that contain anything but

00:04:40.510this combination of violins viola and

00:04:42.880cello

00:04:43.500and as much as it pains me to fault this

00:04:45.840brilliant soundtrack there were times

00:04:47.820where I felt it graded on my nerves

00:04:49.740due to its lack of variety the

00:04:52.470deliberately dreary atmosphere is

00:04:54.300curious a world shrugging off the

00:04:57.030superstitions magic and monsters of the

00:04:59.100past into an equalising steam-powered

00:05:01.410future should be an optimistic one but

00:05:04.380in Arcanum you can feel the uneasiness

00:05:06.990everywhere in the city streets in the

00:05:09.840voices of its people and in the

00:05:11.580factories that keep the society afloat

00:05:13.880in an interesting twist Arcanum like

00:05:17.460fallout is in a way post-apocalyptic

00:05:20.240exploring the colorful world you'll

00:05:22.410happen across forgotten ruins and

00:05:24.060artifacts left behind by vin de Graaf an

00:05:26.430ancient advanced civilization long gone

00:05:29.220you find magnanimous dragon skeletons

00:05:31.950and caves and traces of a mysterious

00:05:34.320history lost in time the current society

00:05:37.290is divided with magic and technology in

00:05:40.200existential conflict machinery can

00:05:42.870interrupt the workings of SPO casting

00:05:44.610and mages will be banned from locomotive

00:05:47.010travel for fear that they will disrupt

00:05:48.900the steam engine and derail the Train

00:05:51.120you'll come across the busy booming

00:05:53.580industrial city of torrent as well as

00:05:55.860the decaying monarchy of Cumbria and

00:05:57.720it's clear that technology is on the

00:05:59.700rise and magic is on the decline the

00:06:02.820humans and gnomes started the industrial

00:06:04.710revolution that took the world by storm

00:06:06.530but the elves gather their kind in their

00:06:09.150great forced Cities and retained their

00:06:10.950magical legacy racism and technologies

00:06:13.650emraan rampant and the world has become

00:06:15.780so obsessed with economic progress in

00:06:17.790industry to care about one another the

00:06:20.640main quest travels the world from desert

00:06:22.680ruins to lush forests to industrious

00:06:25.080cities in search of an ancient enemy

00:06:26.729long since gone but rumored to reawaken

00:06:29.210there are plenty of twists and turns to

00:06:31.770follow and nothing is as it seems it's

00:06:34.919quite an interesting tale and the deep

00:06:36.870lore you can read up on could have

00:06:38.640inspired a series in itself had it met

00:06:40.919more commercial success the absolute

00:06:43.590conviction to the setting is commendable

00:06:45.419instead of simply name-dropping setting

00:06:47.790details in every other line of dialogue

00:06:49.590the Arcanum experience is one to be

00:06:51.660discovered not force-fed you can read

00:06:54.630newspapers that describe world happening

00:06:56.820as they occur read up on notes letters

00:06:59.430and books to divine more about the

00:07:01.110history of the nations at play and each

00:07:03.450characters unique pros and cons will

00:07:05.400ensure you will have a different

00:07:06.690experience one from the next when it

00:07:08.820shines its truly marvelous game design

00:07:11.100one that players have adored and begged

00:07:13.590for a return to since the game's release

00:07:15.690in 2001 doing what you know isn't always

00:07:27.330a bad idea but the troika team saw the

00:07:29.700trend away from turn-based games and

00:07:31.800decided to create too divisive combat

00:07:34.140systems one realtime mala baldur's gate

00:07:36.600one turn-based like fallout the apparent

00:07:39.720haste in which these systems were

00:07:41.070designed is palpable however I found the

00:07:43.680real-time system to be far too hectic

00:07:45.570without pauses and breathers to cast

00:07:47.340spells use items or target specific

00:07:49.770enemies

00:07:50.400Milly's would be over in a few seconds

00:07:52.200of swiping and slashing while you

00:07:54.120frantically tried to use tactics or

00:07:55.860skills to keep yourself alive turn-based

00:07:58.080was more balanced and forgiving

00:07:59.460borrowing the action point system from

00:08:01.560fallout but with a lot less readability

00:08:03.320actions no longer had a handy indicator

00:08:05.880showing how many points are going to be

00:08:07.470used instead having to rely on a clunky

00:08:09.930meter at the bottom of the screen called

00:08:11.970shuts to the head arms and legs are now

00:08:14.190hidden hotkeys rather than an intuitive

00:08:16.020an enemy chart like and fall out and

00:08:17.820Arcanum is what you might call a whiff

00:08:19.920simulator where combat can go by with

00:08:22.500miss after Miss sometimes resulting in

00:08:24.660what looks like the world's worst

00:08:25.860gladiator fight

00:08:32.740this is likely by design to make both

00:08:35.390real-time and turn-based combat viable

00:08:37.520but it shows its underdeveloped and

00:08:39.740unbalanced nature when you try to break

00:08:41.870the system there was a fight against a

00:08:44.149slow lumbering enemy where I couldn't

00:08:46.070move away fast enough to shoot him

00:08:47.750safely in turn base but when switching

00:08:49.880to real-time combat out of curiosity

00:08:51.640gunshots are quick and movement was

00:08:53.839rapid so I could cut him with brief

00:08:55.940pauses to shoot effectively breaking the

00:08:58.190combat system and making an impossible

00:08:59.810battle easy there's a more complicated

00:09:02.029damage system too instead of having hit

00:09:04.700points and possibly a mana bar the game

00:09:07.010features HP and fatigue sometimes while

00:09:09.800attacking or taking a hit you will take

00:09:11.630fatigue damage as well and spellcasters

00:09:13.970also take a hit to fatigue when using

00:09:15.829magic so you can literally spell

00:09:17.720yourself into unconsciousness if you're

00:09:19.520not careful an interesting physiological

00:09:21.350and realistic take on taxing magic use

00:09:23.930compared to the physical resource base

00:09:26.209use of guns and technological abilities

00:09:28.640provided they have enough bullets or

00:09:30.470scrap parts handy insufficient

00:09:32.990audio-visual feedback even from hits is

00:09:35.240disappointing two hits won't even

00:09:37.279trigger an impact sound or a damage

00:09:39.260animation making much of the combat seem

00:09:41.690more like a passive affair even when

00:09:43.700compared to the years old fault games

00:09:55.440[Music]

00:10:03.020at the core of Arcanum setting and

00:10:06.930mechanics is the compelling magic text

00:10:09.270system each magic item and character

00:10:11.520points spent on a Magic School will move

00:10:13.470your magic tech meter toward magic for

00:10:15.990every gadget firearm or point spent on

00:10:18.240guns repair or engineering disciplines

00:10:20.430the meter will favor technology this

00:10:23.130comes into play during spell casting and

00:10:25.170use of technological skills favoring

00:10:27.690technology will create a resistance to

00:10:29.370magic in general and can even block

00:10:31.410healing spells being magically inclined

00:10:33.840will sometimes negate tech disciplines -

00:10:35.820without warning the magic tech meter can

00:10:38.340even swing in one direction or the other

00:10:40.020depending on if your character is

00:10:41.640standing near a trained factory or other

00:10:43.680source of influence this is a

00:10:45.750fascinating mechanic but borders on the

00:10:47.910obtuse since you don't get a calculation

00:10:50.130or pop up that explains what is going on

00:10:52.140when things fail for no apparent reason

00:10:54.320there are a metric ton of technological

00:10:57.150disciplines to learn and use from

00:10:58.980smithing guns armors and swords

00:11:00.930assembling clockwork automatons mixing

00:11:03.600ointments poisons and acids and

00:11:05.370inventing electric tools and devices for

00:11:07.770easier adventuring there is an

00:11:09.810underrated crafting system in the game

00:11:11.640which grants you a new schematic for

00:11:13.800each level acquired in each discipline

00:11:15.390as well as additional schematics found

00:11:17.640or bought in the world a schematic is

00:11:19.830needed to craft a given item and shows

00:11:21.870the two ingredients you need to do so

00:11:23.490combining fuel and a rag gets you a

00:11:26.070Molotov cocktail piecing together a

00:11:28.080rifle and a lookingglass will get you a

00:11:30.089scoped rifle mixing charcoal and

00:11:32.400saltpeter will make bullets this is an

00:11:34.800intuitive system that's both addictive

00:11:36.600and simple the only issue I had was that

00:11:38.880some schematics for much needed things

00:11:40.680were a little hard to find at times the

00:11:43.350colleges of magic to choose from are

00:11:45.060equally vast from summoning creatures

00:11:47.400out of thin air raising the dead

00:11:49.020channeling fire earth water and air

00:11:51.480transforming creatures charming animals

00:11:54.120healing creating illusions manipulating

00:11:57.060time itself

00:11:57.960psychic persuasion teleportation sensory

00:12:01.140spells and many more I've seen few games

00:12:03.900with such a wide swath of magic which

00:12:05.790range from pretty mundane tricks to

00:12:07.470awe-inspiring miracles though a little

00:12:09.630overpowered

00:12:10.570like fallout before it our kingdom has a

00:12:12.880classless system with a few starting

00:12:14.830molds to work off of but if you prefer

00:12:16.990not having to battle this sometimes

00:12:18.670overwhelming options you have you can

00:12:21.130let the game guide your level to level

00:12:22.660progression using a class like template

00:12:24.640our kingdom replaces traits with

00:12:26.680character backgrounds say you were

00:12:28.540raised by a wealthy family were

00:12:30.550constructed like a Frankenstein's

00:12:32.050monster or were raised by orcs all these

00:12:35.110add a sense of flavor during character

00:12:36.610creation but also impact your stats in a

00:12:38.890major way - with the addition of races

00:12:41.410to the mix 7 and all and the two vastly

00:12:44.440varied fields of Technology and magic

00:12:46.330our kingdom offers more variety than

00:12:48.400most other games even today as you might

00:12:50.980expect from C RPG design veterans our

00:12:53.740kingdom is as open-ended as any game

00:12:55.930you'll play in just about every quest

00:12:58.060you receive there are many ways to

00:12:59.440tackle them some not as obvious as

00:13:01.840others it has one of the most advanced

00:13:04.210non-player character interaction systems

00:13:06.070ever made with a complex reaction

00:13:08.160algorithm which measures an NPCs

00:13:10.720preferences against your characters

00:13:12.460magical or technological affiliation

00:13:14.560reputation race physical beauty and

00:13:17.440mental charisma a tinkerer will turn

00:13:19.570away mages a shopkeeper might sneer

00:13:21.790racial slurs at a half ogre or flatter a

00:13:24.310beautiful elf the sheer amount of

00:13:26.230responses and mechanics at play in your

00:13:28.030dialogue experiences is almost

00:13:29.710mind-boggling especially when compared

00:13:32.140to the more narrow and streamlined

00:13:33.670dialogue systems of modern games some

00:13:37.510side quests even divide up into many

00:13:39.640objectives that can be completed

00:13:41.260independently in one of the earlier

00:13:43.480examples you can happen upon a ghost in

00:13:45.520a cave hovering over his corpse he tells

00:13:48.370you that he was cursed to internal

00:13:50.080torment by an evil priest when asking

00:13:52.360for shelter for the night you can

00:13:54.070blindly follow his request to hunt down

00:13:56.170and kill the priest the spear promises

00:13:58.450to reveal the location of hidden

00:14:00.010treasure for your efforts or you can

00:14:01.960question him and hear his side of the

00:14:03.760story that a pair of bandits killed the

00:14:05.890priests family and stole a valuable

00:14:07.390artifact at this point you can

00:14:09.460interrogate the spirit in multiple ways

00:14:11.050either by falsely promising his release

00:14:13.510from his torture should he help you find

00:14:15.220his cohort or by pushing their revenge

00:14:17.260angle of his partner's betrayal then you

00:14:19.420can find this other bandit attache

00:14:21.160and neither murder him or threaten him

00:14:23.350into giving up the artifact and to top

00:14:25.720all this off after going wall out of

00:14:27.730your way for days doing all these goody

00:14:29.950two-shoes deeds and returning the

00:14:31.600artifact to the priest you can still

00:14:33.490kill him and fulfill the spirits

00:14:35.260dastardly wishes and finish that quest

00:14:37.450line too many quests are written in this

00:14:39.910way

00:14:40.300and like some modern examples like The

00:14:42.310Witcher 3 much of what you know or

00:14:44.290understand of each situation may or may

00:14:46.360not be what it seems it's impressive how

00:14:48.970the narrative of all these stories n-b-c

00:14:51.610AI the day-night system and time

00:14:54.040schedule all come together to sell you

00:14:55.990on this world you can watch the whole

00:14:58.120world go to sleep then by nightfall

00:15:00.100break into a shop through lock-picking

00:15:02.050or smashing windows or doors and loot

00:15:04.360their valuables by Dawn they will wake

00:15:06.520up and perform their daily duties

00:15:07.930everything you can buy or require are

00:15:10.480all stored in accessible containers or

00:15:12.670on their person unlike many modern games

00:15:14.980which hide item inventories off map to

00:15:17.920curtail exploitation our kingdom wants

00:15:20.530you to play it break it and exploit it

00:15:22.720though technologically conservative and

00:15:25.330its instability is frustrating at times

00:15:27.160it was a work of passion to bring us a

00:15:29.590living breathing world we'd never

00:15:31.540experienced before

00:15:32.730[Music]

00:15:40.590Arcanum is a fantastic concept with many

00:15:43.410great ideas and some of them executed

00:15:45.510well but suffered from the malady that

00:15:48.180brings so many games down in

00:15:50.640completeness and insufficient polish

00:15:53.180clearly suffering from a rush production

00:15:55.350as seen in the dozens and dozens of item

00:15:57.990object or character descriptions using a

00:16:00.300standard placeholder icon the combat was

00:16:02.700cruder and more unbalanced than even

00:16:04.560fall out and Baldur's Gate from a half

00:16:06.150decade before new mechanics like the

00:16:08.610inspired magic tech meter weren't

00:16:10.290transparent enough to make it as

00:16:11.670strategic and compelling as it should

00:16:13.620have been audio visual feedback in

00:16:15.720combat was lackluster and even compared

00:16:18.270to the team's previous work on fallout

00:16:19.740seemed unimpacted and lifeless to say

00:16:23.040nothing of the severe bugs and

00:16:24.480technological problems the game faced

00:16:26.190the engine progressively loaded larger

00:16:28.680Maps as you explore them rather than

00:16:30.839fully loading smaller zones all at once

00:16:32.610this badly implemented memory management

00:16:35.370feature causes the game to stall for

00:16:37.529long periods of time even today

00:16:39.060sometimes after traveling but a few feet

00:16:41.370away from your last loading pause get

00:16:43.500used to the spinning clock face your

00:16:45.510going to be seeing a lot of it but

00:16:48.089underneath all of this roughness is one

00:16:49.980of the more unique and underexposed

00:16:51.870role-playing games of the decade with an

00:16:53.970incredibly diverse amount of progression

00:16:55.740options and play styles to adopt from a

00:16:58.140swashbuckling source Minh to a

00:16:59.610diplomatic psychic from a beautiful

00:17:01.920necromancer to a nimble gunslinger a

00:17:04.079shadowy rogue to a robot building

00:17:06.660engineer and many many more had there

00:17:09.870been more development time or technology

00:17:11.790behind Arcanum it may have launched a

00:17:14.069successful franchise as was planned with

00:17:16.620an Ultima Underworld style follow-up to

00:17:18.480the game called journey to the center of

00:17:20.850Arcanum a jules verne en adventure

00:17:23.280powered by the Source engine

00:17:24.750sadly cancelled when disputes between

00:17:27.000the publisher Ciera an engine creator

00:17:29.100valve cut the project short

00:17:31.680a flawed diamond in the rough just

00:17:34.260needing a finer cut and more polish to

00:17:36.570see its brilliance glean on the masses

00:17:38.720Arcanum still receive praise for all it

00:17:41.220did right but this is just the beginning

00:17:43.410of the sheer inspiration and travail of

00:17:46.770tricky games

00:17:51.370[Music]

00:18:03.809so what was your experience with Arcanum

00:18:05.879are you a trick a veteran scarred and

00:18:08.070all or are you new to this underexposed

00:18:10.139classic let's discuss in the comments

00:18:12.059make sure to subscribe so you don't miss

00:18:14.129the next entry to this three-part series

00:18:15.899covering tricky games a big shout-out to

00:18:18.629my amazing patrons for supporting my

00:18:20.249work please check out the link to my

00:18:22.019patreon at the end of this video to

00:18:23.309consider sponsoring my content and thank

00:18:26.159you for watching

00:18:26.910[Music]

00:18:39.180[Music]